Minor-league prospect Rob Refsnyder has Yankees fans abuzz

Even if he's not in the majors this year, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2012 College World Series could certainly be the Yankees' everyday second baseman next season

Rob Refsnyder of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre slides across home plate on a passed ball against Pawtucket on June 22. Adopted at birth out of South Korea, Refsnyder plays second base in Triple-A but was a star right fielder for 2012 national champion Arizona.(Photo: Jason Farmer)

Rob Refsnyder's name bounces across Twitter, fills online message boards, and anchors any number of questions coming through Yankees general manager Brian Cashman's cell phone. He's become the most buzzworthy player in the Triple-A clubhouse, and if the Yankees are willing to advance the script a little bit, Refsnyder just might be able to provide a second-half boost.

Even if he's not in New York this year, Refsnyder could certainly be the Yankees' everyday second baseman next season.

But for now, he just needs to eat lunch.

After that, he'll stretch and hit and watch video and study defensive charts and get a scouting report for the night's opposing Triple-A starter. The big leagues are right in front of him, but for the moment, Refsnyder has other things to do.

"Not that it's not important to me, but it's not important to what I have to do today," he said on a typical late morning with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Pa.). "For me to worry about what those guys are doing in New York and my future, that would just put a lot of my focus on stuff I shouldn't be focusing on."

The Yankees came out of the All-Star break with a depleted rotation and a generally underperforming lineup. While they've gone through basically every internal option to help their short-handed pitching staff, there are still readily available alternatives for their lineup — and the one generating the most attention these days is a soft-spoken 23-year-old in just his second full season of pro ball.

Refsnyder's rapid ascent through the minor-league system has him hitting .311 with surprising power and nearly as many walks as strikeouts in Triple-A. He's a second baseman by trade, a right fielder if need be, and he's making a compelling case that the Yankees should scrap their plans to keep him in the minor leagues for the year.

"He's got an old soul when it comes to hitting," Refsnyder's college coach, Andy Lopez, said. "He understands that, if I can put a good stroke through the hitting zone, then I've done my job."

A good swing doesn't guarantee a hit — Refsnyder knows that — but do it enough times and the odds begin to shift.

Just keep doing the right thing and good things will happen. That's always been the idea.

"For people to say the Yankees don't push their players and things like that, I think it's (said by) guys who need to look themselves in the mirror and kind of just keep working," Refsnyder said. "I think the Yankees, if you work hard and put your heart into it, the Yankees are just like any organization: They're going to see that hard work and see that drive to get better and the strength to want to get better. They're going to move you just like any organization."

When he got to the University of Arizona, Refsnyder was a bit of a curiosity to his coach. Adopted at birth out of South Korea, Refsnyder was such a gifted multi-sport athlete in high school that he'd never focused strictly on baseball. There was untapped potential.

During a freshman-year intrasquad game, Lopez saw Refsnyder square up some balls, then retreat to the corner of the dugout to take slow, deliberate practice swings with an imaginary bat.

"He was going through every small frame of his stroke," Lopez said. "I remember turning to my assistant coach and going, 'That guy's going to be a good hitter.' He said. 'Why is that, Coach?' I said, 'Because he really cares about it. He really cares about swinging the bat.' "

Refsnyder became the College World Series' Most Outstanding Player in 2012. He won a championship at Arizona and was drafted in the fifth round by the Yankees. He might have gone higher had he given up his trust in the process and done what scouts repeatedly asked him to do. Although he'd been a standout right fielder in college, scouts agreed that his high on-base percentage with limited power were a better fit at second base.

Refsnyder, though, refused to ask Lopez to let him take ground balls.

"I never wanted to do that because that's not appropriate for me to be doing that solely to get drafted higher," Refsnyder said. "I've never wanted to put myself before the team. I think that's pretty selfish when the guys see that."

So Refsnyder stayed in the outfield at Arizona and predictably moved to second base in his first full season of pro ball. He jumped from low-A to high-A in 2013, and he's already moved from Double-A to Triple-A this year.

"Big-time improvement. Huge," Yankees vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman said. "(He needs to) just keep playing and recognizing game situations. That's what he needs to do. He's making routine plays, he's making good plays, he's making double plays."

He's also hitting, so much so that his bat doesn't seem so limited. Just before the All-Star break, the Yankees began giving Refsnyder a few games back in right field, just to make sure he can still do it in case that's where a big-league opportunity first presents itself.

"We're looking toward him more for 2015," Cashman said. "That doesn't mean he can't get here in 2014, but I wouldn't bet on it."

Some corners of the fan base are begging for a call-up, major New York media outlets are taking notice of his numbers, and other Triple-A players are coming to New York with nothing but praise — "Has pride and plays the game right," Zelous Wheeler said. But Refsnyder seems content with a message he learned in college.

When bench players would complain about a lack of playing time, Lopez would assure them that he was putting out the lineup he believed best suited to win. That message stuck with Refsnyder.

"The final destination is pretty obvious," he said. "But obviously we need to work on something, and that's kind of what consumes my day is: How can I get better today and how can I get ready today? … Complacency shouldn't be in a Triple-A clubhouse. It shouldn't be in any minor-league clubhouse because you're in the minor leagues."

So Refsnyder is going to grab some lunch and get to work. The big leagues are right in front of him, but he's not there yet.

"Before, it was a guy who was bigger, faster and stronger (who made it to the majors)," Lopez said. "Well, you know what? I've been doing this for 37 years. My God, they're all big, strong and fast now.

"So what separates them? Well, it's baseball IQ and work ethic and character. And Robert Refsnyder has all of those things."

.311

Rob Refsnyder's batting average at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, his second full season of professional baseball